During halftime of a football game, a sling shot launches T-shirts at the crowd. A T-shirt is launched from a height of 4 feet with an initial upward velocity of 80 feet per second. The T-shirt is caught 35 feet above the field. How long will it take the T-shirt to reach its maximum height? What is the maximum height? What is the range of the function that models the height of the T-shirt over time?

It takes 2 seconds to reach a maximum height of 69 feet, and the range is [5, 69].

The equation is of the form

h (t) = - 16t² + v₀t + h₀, where - 16 is the gravitational constant, v₀ is the initial velocity, and h₀ is the initial height. Using the values from our problem, we have:

h (t) = - 16t² + 64t + 5

To find the maximum height, we find the vertex. The first step in this is to find the axis of symmetry, which is given by - b/2a:

-64/2 (-16) = - 64/-32 = 2

This is our value for t, so it takes 2 seconds to reach the maximum. Substituting this into our function, we have

h (2) = - 16 (2²) + 64 (2) + 5 = - 64 + 128 + 5 = 64 + 5 = 69

This is the maximum height.

The range of heights goes from 5 to 69, inclusive, or [5, 69].